The lingering scent of smoke and scorched earth serves as a stark, daily reminder for the Hayes family at Lindsay Park. Just 30 metres from the trainers’ hut, a blackened gum tree, its leaves brittle and brown, stands testament to the devastating bushfires that threatened to obliterate their Euroa farm.
For J.D. Hayes, the trauma of those January fires remains incredibly vivid. As he and his brothers, Ben and Will, gear up for the prestigious Australia Cup meeting at Flemington, the harrowing events of nearly three months ago are etched in his memory. An unstoppable blaze claimed the lives of seven horses, destroyed Ben’s home, and decimated a smaller stable complex and hay shed. J.D. reflects that, remarkably, the outcome could have been far worse.
“We were lucky,” J.D. stated. “It hit 95 per cent of our farm, but the irrigation saved our main stables and our tracks. We had 350 horses on the property… only seven didn’t make it.”
A Firestorm’s Fury
The first encounter with the inferno occurred on Thursday, January 8th. J.D. and his twin brother Will had returned to Lindsay Park, located 17 kilometres south of Euroa, from their training duties in Melbourne due to the escalating threat to the property. Their older brother, Ben, was away on the Gold Coast for the Magic Millions sales. By this point, the fires had taken hold, the Hume Freeway was closed, and evacuations were underway.
“We got to the turn off, literally when you come into the farm, and we got the call from the CFA saying you’re about to be burnt,” J.D. recalled. “There was just smoke. Like, I’ve never seen smoke like it. It was unbelievable. You can’t explain it. It’s horrendous … like a war zone. The wind and the sound, like, you can hear it burning. And that’s when we had to evacuate.”
This marked the beginning of what would be 48 hours of sheer terror.
Narrow Escapes and Devastating Returns
Luck, and the bravery of the Country Fire Authority (CFA), played a crucial role on that first day. Fifteen CFA trucks battled the blaze at the farm’s boundary before a sudden wind change diverted the fire’s path, sparing Lindsay Park for the time being. However, the fleeting sense of relief was shattered overnight. On Friday, the firestorm returned with a vengeance, determined to finish what it had started.
“Friday was that horrific day. There were 90km/h winds and it was 45 degrees. It was just a perfect storm,” J.D. explained. As fires raged across the district, spewing thousands of burning embers into the air, the Hayes family, including parents David and Prue who had returned from Hong Kong for a wedding, scrambled across the farm, extinguishing spot fires with the assistance of dedicated staff.
“But because of the forecast and the amount of smoke, and the fire front that you could see, we had to leave,” J.D. admitted. “So we fuelled up all the generators, turned the sprinklers on, and that was the worst feeling of all, leaving on Friday afternoon, just thinking that this could be it. It was just terrible.”
The family sought refuge in Shepparton, anxiously awaiting news.
“The CFA were saying that our Criterion stables were gone, Ben and Grace’s house was gone, and we’re just hoping that they weren’t saying that the main stables were gone,” J.D. recounted. “The CFA were amazing. They were defending right to the last minute, but if they thought the main stable complex was going to catch fire, they were going to let all those horses go. That would have been chaos.”
The Racing Community Rallies
When the family returned late on Friday night, around 9 pm, after the fire front had passed, a scene of disarray greeted them. “Mum, Dad, me and Will came in and there were just loose horses everywhere,” J.D. said. “The fire had burned all the fences.”
What struck him most, even as flames illuminated the surrounding hills, was the remarkable composure of the horses. “When the fire had come into the paddocks, the horses had jumped the fire front to the burnt ground. It was incredible,” he marvelled. “Then, in the pitch black, we had to catch as many as we could. You would walk into a paddock, and you’d only have one head collar and there would be 15 horses, and they would all just follow you out. It was surreal.”
The following day presented another immense challenge. With no fences on the property, the urgent task of relocating 130 horses to a more secure location began. By 7 am on Saturday, a convoy of trucks arrived. Troy Corstens, head of the Australian Trainers’ Association, had orchestrated this incredible effort, enlisting support from major stables like Ciaron Maher and Chris Waller, as well as smaller country trainers. Even suspended jockey Ben Allen pitched in, driving a vehicle to assist. Inglis generously opened their sales complex at Oaklands Junction to stable the horses temporarily.
“The racing industry is an incredible industry,” J.D. expressed with gratitude. “When the chips are down, people come and help. We had every horse that we needed to get off the property gone by about 10 am. In three hours, we were able to evacuate the farm, which was incredible.”
Rebuilding and Resilience
After running on pure adrenaline for 48 hours, J.D. finally succumbed to exhaustion. However, there was little time for rest. The business of racing, he emphasised, had to continue. The clean-up process itself was fraught with stress, involving insurance claims, the extensive task of replacing fences, and managing the relocation of 130 horses from Inglis to another farm, all while preparing runners for the upcoming Saturday races.
The personal toll was also significant. Ben and his wife, Grace, who had welcomed a baby girl in October, faced the devastating loss of their home. “They’d freshly renovated,” J.D. said. “They got two nights in it. They had a lot of their personal items in there – all gone. We had all the Better Loosen [Up] memorabilia in there as well, and all the C.S. Hayes memorabilia. So all Pa’s stuff is gone. Like photos of him training 10 winners in a day.”
Despite the immense loss, as new green shoots begin to emerge across Lindsay Park, the Hayes family is demonstrating remarkable resilience. They are actively rebuilding fences, have plans in motion for a new Criterion stable, and are preparing to construct a new home for Ben and Grace.
“You always think, ‘Oh, it won’t happen to us’,” J.D. reflected. “But we’ve lost that mentality now because it’s happened twice in 10 years. We just get prepared now. It could have been much worse, but our system stood up to save as many horses as we did, and save the property as well.”
This week, the brothers are focused on preparing their runners for Saturday’s Flemington meeting, including the promising two-year-old Gin Twist, Godolphin sprinter Pisanello, and Australia Cup contender Apulia.
“He [Apulia] won the Perth Cup on the first of January, and then we burnt down seven days later,” Hayes said. “Winning on Saturday is not beyond him. We’ve put the blinkers on. He’s a very good Flemington horse, and he put the writing on the wall that he’s looking for 2000 metres. We’re quietly confident that he’s not going to let us down.”
